With help from Eli Okun and Garrett Ross

FIRST IN PLAYBOOK — Senate Majority Leader CHUCK SCHUMER this morning is asking National Transportation Safety Board Chair JENNIFER HOMENDY to expand the agency’s probe of Norfolk Southern into the six other largest U.S. railroads.

In a letter, Schumer applauds the initial investigation but writes that “it is jarringly evident that the freight rail industry is in desperate need of a full and comprehensive investigation,” citing a combination of Washington deregulation, a 20% cut to the rail workforce and a tally of more 26,500 accidents and incidents in the industry over the past five years.

Among the questions that Schumer wants the NTSB to address: “How have recent deregulatory pushes contributed to these derailments and increase in deaths?” and “Does the railroad have a culture of ignoring their own safety standards?”

HISTORY REPEATING? — We’re barely into the 2024 Senate cycle, and already some Republicans are feeling a sense of deja vu.

In a new must-read, our Holly Otterbein attended a rural Pennsylvania rally for DOUG MASTRIANO, the “state’s most MAGA Republican” who also won its gubernatorial primary last year only to lose the general election by double digits to Democrat JOSH SHAPIRO.

Her biggest takeaway: Despite that huge loss, Pennsylvania Republicans aren’t ready to toss Mastriano overboard as he mulls a challenge to veteran Democratic Sen. BOB CASEY JR.

“Establishment Republicans have found a silver lining amid the grimness [of 2022]: Perhaps there will be a reckoning,” she writes. “Even diehard supporters of former President DONALD TRUMP, they’ve reasoned, are finally sick of losing. … In this corner of the political world in Pennsylvania, it’s the establishment — not the MAGAverse — that needs course-correction.”

The Senate map is much more GOP-friendly this cycle — with Democrats defending more than a dozen incumbents, many of them in states that are either purple or full-on red — yet Republicans appear to be in a familiar bind.

Far-right candidates are mulling runs and gaining traction amid clear signs they will fail miserably in the general election, putting GOP hopes of reclaiming the chamber at risk. And it’s not just Mastriano.

• Wisconsin: A rep for DAVID CLARKE, the controversial former sheriff and Fox News pundit, told The Daily Beast he would “never take anything off the table” regarding a possible run against Sen. TAMMY BALDWIN.
• Arizona: Both KARI LAKE and BLAKE MASTERS, who lost gubernatorial and Senate races in 2022, respectively, are looking at running for the seat now held by Sen. KYRSTEN SINEMA.
• Montana: Hard-right Rep. MATT ROSENDALE is exploring a rematch against Sen. JON TESTER, who beat him in 2018 by more than 3 points.
• And back in Pennsylvania: KATHY BARNETTE, who drew support from a quarter of Keystone State Republicans in the 2022 Senate primary, recently told WPHT-AM that she was still considering a run against Casey.

“Candidate quality” was the top reason fingered by Senate Minority Leader MITCH McCONNELL and many other GOP bigwigs after the party’s lackluster 2022 showing, and while it’s still awfully early, they’re beginning to worry again.

One thing, however, will be different this time: As NRSC chairman last cycle, Sen. RICK SCOTT’ (R-Fla.) adopted a hands-off approach to primary season that is now being completely discarded by Sen. STEVE DAINES, the new NRSC chair.

“Chairman Daines has been clear he’s willing to do whatever it takes to nominate candidates who can win both a primary and a general election,” NRSC spokesperson MIKE BERG told Playbook last night.

Daines turned heads recently after taking a shot at a potential Mastriano for Senate campaign (“This is how you win elections,” responded JOSH HOLMES, McConnell’s top political hand), and folks around Daines say he’s ready to speak up — and potentially do more than that — when need be.

Some of his recruiting moves have already been reported: Daines publicly pushed former Bush administration official and hedge-fund exec DAVID McCORMICK to take a run at Casey at the NRSC’s winter meeting, WaPo reported, and he’s been in touch with Montana businessman TIM SHEEHY about a challenge to Tester, per Axios.

A person familiar with Daines’ calls, who like others spoke anonymously to candidly describe backroom machinations, said he also spoke recently with West Virginia Gov. JIM JUSTICE to close the deal on a challenge to Democratic Sen. JOE MANCHIN as well as Montana Attorney General AUSTIN KNUDSEN.

Democrats, meanwhile, are sitting back and watching, skeptical that any pre-primary meddling is going to be successful given the anti-establishment fervor that still animates the party’s base. “Those Republican primary voters are kind of repelled by candidates that are closely associated with the NRSC or the establishment Republicans,” said one Democrat involved in the fight for the Senate.

Even some Republicans admit the moves could backfire. They acknowledge plenty of unanswered questions: Has the primary electorate grown any more pragmatic after 2022’s losses? Will Daines’ moves scare off problematic candidates? Are Trump — and potentially other presidential candidates — going to wade into Senate races with endorsements?

But the alternative, they argue, is worse: “You have these candidates who are uniquely damaged and unelectable that it’s worth going in and spending money to make sure they don’t become the nominee,” a former Republican Senate operative told us last night. “These primaries will get rocky at points.”

Good Wednesday morning. Thanks for reading Playbook. Drop us a line: Rachael Bade, Eugene Daniels, Ryan Lizza.

NEW TOMORROW COLUMN — “Former NATO Chief: Trump Could Sabotage the War,” by Alexander Burns: Former NATO Secretary-General ANDERS FOGH RASMUSSEN, “a right-of-center politician who is now a white-shoe international consultant, remains scared of Trump. What disturbs him more immediately than the idea of Trump back in the White House is a far likelier scenario: Trump winning the Republican presidential nomination.”

PHOTO OF THE DAY

2024 WATCH

TRUMP’S DeSANTIS DUMP — Florida Gov. RON DeSANTIS has not yet officially entered the 2024 presidential arena, but former president DONALD TRUMP’s campaign is already preparing an oppo dump on his expected rival, our colleague Meridith McGraw reports this morning. “Trump’s team and his allied PAC are preparing an expansive opposition research file by poring over DeSantis’ record as a prosecutor, member of Congress, and Florida governor.”

What’s in the works: “Among the items a Trump-allied group has drilled into is DeSantis’ record while serving as an assistant U.S. Attorney before running for congressional office, with plans to accuse him of being an ‘extremely lenient prosecutor’ in cases involving, among other things, child pornography.”

TALE OF TWO CANDIDATES — Meanwhile, the two anticipated combatants in the GOP presidential primary already are taking vastly differing approaches to politicking. While Trump’s campaign is “placing a strategic bet on more unscripted, up-close-and-personal moments with his fans,” DeSantis’ early rollout “has consisted of more scripted and stage-managed events,” WaPo’s Isaac Arnsdorf, Josh Dawsey and Maeve Reston write from Davenport, Iowa.

How it’s playing: “With both seeking to tap into voter grievances with combative messages, they are offering GOP voters two distinct vessels for channeling their anger. There are risks associated with both strategies, as some voters have grown tired of Trump’s antics and say they are drawn to DeSantis’s more streamlined presentation, while others remain excited by Trump’s unpredictability.”

NOTES FROM A FORMER FRONT-RUNNER — Former Wisconsin Gov. SCOTT WALKER sat down with Renee Klahr and JC Whittington, where our colleagues on the video team showed the onetime presidential hopeful some clips from DeSantis’ State of the State speech to hear what Walker thought of the Florida governor’s performance. His overall grade: “A solid B-plus.” Watch the full video here

MORE POLITICS

DEMS’ HIGHER OFFICE HEARTBURN — “One thing in the way of Democrats’ hopes of retaking the House? Ambition,” by Brittany Gibson: “So far, five members have already announced plans to run for Senate in just the first few months of the 2024 cycle including Democratic Reps. KATIE PORTER (Calif.) and ELISSA SLOTKIN (Mich.), both of whom are leaving ‘frontline’ — or highly competitive — districts.”

RED LIGHT REDISTRICT — “North Carolina’s high court seems inclined to toss past redistricting rulings,” by Zach Montellaro and Josh Gerstein: “Three key North Carolina justices signaled a degree of hostility to the arguments brought by attorneys representing the groups that defended the current congressional maps in the state.”

POLICY CORNER

HERE COME THE TICKTOCKS — Nearly every major publication posted their reconstruction of how official Washington reacted to the Silicon Valley Bank collapse yesterday. (ICYMI: POLITICO’s posted Monday.) Here’s a roundup of the highlights:

— NYT: “How Washington Decided to Rescue Silicon Valley Bank,” by NYT’s Alan Rappeport, Lauren Hirsch, Jeanna Smialek and Jim Tankersley: “By Saturday night, anxiety that the Biden administration was dragging its feet was bubbling over among California lawmakers. At the glitzy Gridiron Club Dinner in Washington, Representative RO KHANNA, a California Democrat, cornered STEVE RICCHETTI, a top White House aide and close adviser to the president, and urged Mr. Biden and his team to be decisive. He warned that many of Mr. Biden’s major achievements would be washed away if the banking system melted down.”

— WaPo: “The 72-hour scramble to save the United States from a banking crisis,” by Jeff Stein, Tony Romm and Gerrit De Vynck: “In the back of their minds, government officials recalled all too well the fallout from the 2008 financial crisis, and the immense political blowback that followed over the government’s use of taxpayer funds for what was widely seen as an unfair bailout. Over the weekend, they began to see banks outside of tech-heavy New York and California showing signs of volatility. Bank executives told federal officials that major customers had warned they would withdraw their money and move it to a Wall Street giant for safety first thing on Monday morning.”

— AP: “Washington reacts on the fly to Silicon Valley Bank failure,” by Lisa Mascaro, Chris Megerian and Paul Wiseman: “Biden was briefed about the situation on Friday morning, according to a White House official who spoke on condition of anonymity to discuss private conversations. Then he celebrated an unexpectedly strong February jobs report, met with the leader of the European Union and jetted off to Wilmington, Delaware, to mark his grandson’s 17th birthday. His weekend would soon be consumed with phone and video calls focused on preventing a nationwide banking crisis.”

Calls from Congress: “U.S. should temporarily guarantee all bank deposits, senior House Republican says,” by Eleanor Mueller: “Rep. BLAINE LUETKEMEYER of Missouri — a top member of the House Financial Services Committee and a former banker — said in an interview that such a move would help the smallest banks as they deal with the fallout of the collapse of regional lenders Silicon Valley Bank and Signature Bank.”

The political web: “Chuck Schumer gives campaign donations from Silicon Valley Bank’s ex-CEO, PAC to charity,” by CNBC’s Chelsey Cox and Brian Schwartz … “Maxine Waters to return political donation from Silicon Valley Bank,” by Hailey Fuchs, Jessica Piper and Holly Otterbein

Inside the fall: “Silicon Valley Bank quietly laid off some employees as tech firms in its backyard also slashed jobs,” by NBC’s Brian Cheung and Ben Goggin

THE WHITE HOUSE

WHAT BIDEN SAID — A “solemn” Biden yesterday evening in Monterey Park, Calif., delivered “what amounted to a eulogy” for 11 people shot to death as they celebrated the Lunar New Year earlier this year and signed an executive order to close gun registration loopholes, Alexander Nieves and Myah Ward write.

VEEP FILES — “Kamala Harris to make first trip to Iowa since becoming vice president,” by CNN’s Jasmine Wright and Jeff Zeleny: “Harris will travel to Des Moines to convene a roundtable with local leaders about the fight to protect reproductive rights.”

CONGRESS

WHIP COUNT — “Senate Dems confident they can repeal Iraq war authorizations — despite absences,” by Daniella Diaz and Anthony Adragna: “Senators will vote Thursday on whether to advance the bill, which would repeal both the 1991 and 2002 authorizations for the use of military force against Iraq’s government, formally concluding the conflicts and marking the end of an authority that many argue is antiquated and now unnecessary.”

The path forward: “It has to clear a filibuster in order to pass, a threshold that appeared simple enough before Democratic Sens. JOHN FETTERMAN (Pa.) and DIANNE FEINSTEIN (Calif.) — and Minority Leader MITCH McCONNELL — were hospitalized recently with health concerns. And Senate passage is only the first step, as the House would still need to take up the legislation before sending it to President Joe Biden’s desk.”

Also expected today: A razor-thin lunchtime vote on ERIC GARCETTI’s nomination as ambassador to India

SOURING SENATE — “Bank failures revive bitter Senate Democratic infighting,” by Burgess Everett and Eleanor Mueller: “The current Senate Democratic discord is especially acute because the caucus had the numbers to block the 2018 effort — but under heavy pressure to cut a deal to help community banks in an election year, 17 of them supported it. The collapse of two banks with roughly $300 billion in total assets over the past week has animated those internal divisions among Democratic senators, who usually pride themselves on policy unity.”

Where they go from here: “Several Democrats said they want to see either repeal of the 2018 legislation or other tougher laws. But at the moment there is no apparent solution that would get 51 Democratic votes, much less the 60 senators needed to vault a filibuster.”

YACHTZEE — “Sold: Yacht With a Waterfall. Price: $19 Million. Broker: George Santos,” by NYT’s Rebecca Davis O’Brien and William K. Rashbaum: “It is not clear what laws, if any, may have been broken in the transaction. Several election law experts said that if the sale was designed to inject money into Mr. [GEORGE] SANTOS’s campaign, it may be in violation of federal law governing caps on campaign contributions. It could also be illegal if Mr. Santos tied any commission he received on the sale to previous or future donations.

“But even if Mr. Santos broke no laws, the deal serves as further evidence of an emerging narrative given by people in his political orbit — that Mr. Santos seemed to use his campaign not only to win elected office but also as a networking exercise to ingratiate himself with rich donors and enrich himself from those contacts.”

TRUMP CARDS

WHO’S BEHIND THE CURTAIN — “He Helps Trump Navigate Legal Peril While Under Scrutiny Himself,” by NYT’s Maggie Haberman, Alan Feuer and Jesse McKinley: BORIS EPSHTEYN “is the latest aide to try to live up to Mr. Trump’s desire for a slashing defender in the mold of his first lawyer protector, ROY M. COHN.”

IN CASE YOU WERE WONDERING — “FBI says it has no records related to Trump’s claim he ‘sent’ agents to stop voter fraud in Florida during 2018 election,” by NBC’s Lewis Kamb

JUDICIARY SQUARE

TAKING IT TO COURT — “Greens sue Biden over Willow oil project approval,” by Alex Guillén: “Biden’s decision to allow ConocoPhillips to build its massive project on federal land in the Alaska wilderness has caused an uproar among environmentalists.”

FOR YOUR RADAR — “Federal manhunt underway for man who was former Gov. Larry Hogan’s chief of staff,” by CBS’ Kathryn Watson

JAN. 6 AND ITS AFTERMATH

YIKES — “Princeton senior arrested in connection with Jan. 6 Capitol riot,” by The Daily Princetonian’s Julian Hartman-Sigall and Bridget O’Neill

AMERICA AND THE WORLD

HEADS UP — “Russian fighter jet forces down U.S. drone over Black Sea,” by CNN’s Oren Liebermann, Jennifer Hansler, Haley Britzky and Natasha Bertrand: “The Reaper drone and two Russian Su-27 aircraft were flying over international waters over the Black Sea on Tuesday when one of the Russian jets intentionally flew in front of and dumped fuel on the unmanned drone several times, a statement from US European Command said. The aircraft then hit the propeller of the drone, prompting US forces to bring the MQ-9 drone down in international waters.”

PUSHING FOR MORE — “Senators from both parties press Austin on sending F-16s to Ukraine,” by Connor O’Brien

DANCE OF THE SUPERPOWERS — “Honduras will seek to establish diplomatic ties with China,” AP

BEYOND THE BELTWAY

DeWINE DOWNLOAD — “Trump who? Ohio’s Mike DeWine doesn’t have time to talk ageism, partisan rancor or 45,” by Shia Kapos: “In a wide-ranging interview with POLITICO, [Ohio Gov. MIKE] DeWINE talked about the Palestine disaster, maneuvering within the Republican Party and how he’s approached policy issues related to education and abortion.”

HAPPENING TODAY — “In a high-stakes hearing, a judge will consider whether to order an abortion pill off the market,” by NBC’s Aria Bendix and Chloe Atkins: “[I]it is not known when U.S. District Judge MATTHEW KACSMARYK will issue his decision — it could come Wednesday or in the following days or weeks.”

Related read: “Abortion pill access case: Judge wants ‘less advertisement,’” by AP’s Sean Murphy and Jake Bleiberg in Amarillo, Texas: Kacsmaryk “asked lawyers for the ‘courtesy’ of not publicizing upcoming arguments, according to a court record released Tuesday that reveals new details of a move experts say is outside the norm for the U.S. judicial system.”

VALLEY TALK

TIKTOK ON THE CLOCK — “TikTok Considers Splitting From ByteDance If Deal With U.S. Fails,” by Bloomberg’s Alex Barinka and Olivia Carville: “A divestiture, which could result in a sale or initial public offering, is considered a last resort, to be pursued only if the company’s existing proposal with national security officials doesn’t get approved, according to people familiar with the matter. Even then, the Chinese government would have to agree to such a transaction, the people said.”

INTO THE METAVERSE — “Meta doubles down on layoffs,” by Platformer’s Casey Newton

OUT AND ABOUT — MSNBC President Rashida Jones hosted a private dinner last night to celebrate one year of Stephanie Ruhle hosting “The 11th Hour.” SPOTTED: Cesar Conde, Lauren Peikoff, Greg Kordick, Rebecca Kutler, Alicia Menendez, Andrew Ross Sorkin, Tammy Haddad, Sean Patrick Maloney, Randy Florke, Arianna Huffington, Jeh Johnson, Charles Coleman, David Jolly, Tali Farhadian Weinstein and Gary Cohn.

FIRST IN PLAYBOOK — David Trulio will be president and CEO of the Ronald Reagan Presidential Foundation and Institute. He most recently was managing editor and head of strategy and editorial operations at FOX News Digital.

— Willie May is now president-elect of the American Association for the Advancement of Science. He currently is VP of research and economic development and professor of chemistry at Morgan State University, and is a Commerce and NIST alum.

— Rachel Thomas is moving into a new role as a senior adviser for comms around implementing the Biden administration’s legislative wins (BIL, IRA, CHIPS, ARP, PACT). She is an Education Department and Biden campaign alum.

— Stacy McBride is joining Husch Blackwell Strategies’ federal team as a principal. She previously was chief of staff and committee staff director for Sen. Roy Blunt (R-Mo.).

TRANSITION — Pia Carusone is now president of SKDK Political. She most recently led SKDK’s ad/media strategy work for Sen. Mark Kelly’s (D-Ariz.) reelection campaign. … Gloria Dabek is now managing policy adviser for agriculture at Carbon180. She previously was assistant director of government relations at the Chicago Council on Global Affairs. … Nick Barley is now deputy comms director for the House Education and the Workforce Committee. He most recently was deputy chief of staff/comms director for former Rep. Fred Keller (R-Pa.). …

… Marshall Cohen is joining KMM strategies as a partner and opening a Washington, D.C. office. He was most recently the political director for the DGA. … Yates Baroody is joining Kelly Gibson as a partner at Stronger Than Communications. She previously was a partner at Beacon Media and is an A|L Media, EMILY’s List, DSCC and DCCC alum.

HAPPY BIRTHDAY: Reps. Jason Crow (D-Colo.) and Morgan Griffith (R-Va.) … Kevin Munoz … Lenny Alcivar … Brendan Buck of Seven Letter … George Holman … Jack Limpert … former Sen. Ted Kaufman (D-Del.) … Svante Myrick … POLITICO’s Mallory Culhane … Megan Uhrich … Marcus Weisgerber of Defense One … Franklin Davis of the American Beverage Association … Amanda Broun … Kate Dickens of S-3 Group … Patrick Dellinger of FlexPoint Media … Suzanne Smalley … Lauren Marshall of FGS Global … Joe Carapiet … Ariel Hill-Davis of Solvay America … Jenny 8. Lee … Mark J. Green … former West Virginia Gov. Earl Ray Tomblin … Tom Baer … Josh Deckard … Dean Rosen of Mehlman Consulting … John Bozzella of the Alliance for Automotive Innovation … NYT’s Sopan Deb

Send Playbookers tips to [email protected] or text us at 202-556-3307. Playbook couldn’t happen without our editor Mike DeBonis, deputy editor Zack Stanton and producers Setota Hailemariam and Bethany Irvine.